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Employment:
Associate Professor, University of Illinois, 2005-
Assistant Professor, University of Illinois, 2001-2005
Assistant Professor, Arizona State University West, Phoenix, 1996-2000
NIH Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, Riverside, 1995-1996
Postdoctoral Associate, Dept. of Conservation Biology, Chicago Zoological
Society, Brookfield, IL, 1993-1994
Education:
1993 University of Chicago,
Ph.D. Evolutionary Genetics
1988 University of Chicago, M.S. Evolutionary Biology
1982 Rice University, B.A. Geology/Geophysics
Academic
Awards, Honors, and Other Professional Activities:
Fulbright Senior Scholar Award, 2008-2009
Council Member, American Genetic Association, 2007-2009
Editorial Board, Evolution (International Society for the Study of
Evolution) 2005-2007
Faculty of 1000 (Genomics and Genetics Faculty, Evolutionary and
Comparative Genetics Section) 2004-2008
NSF CAREER Award, 1998-2003
National Research Service Award (NIH) 1995-1996
Galler Dissertation Award in the Biological Sciences, University of
Chicago, 1994
Committee Award, University of Chicago, 1993
National Science Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship, 1986-1989
Graduate Fellowship, Searle Foundation, 1986-1988
Research
Interests:
One of the main goals of
evolutionary genetics is understanding the causes and consequences of
genetic variation. I am mainly interested in understanding why members of
the same population are so genetically variable. A simplistic view of
evolution would lead one to believe that natural selection should eliminate
most genetic variation for traits that determine Darwinian fitness: traits
such as fecundity, mating success, and longevity. However, animal
populations harbor a great deal of genetic variation for these fitness
traits. This variation could be maintained by mutation, or could be
actively maintained by natural selection. My laboratory conducts
experiments designed to measure variation for fitness traits, identify
genes causing variation, and determine the evolutionary forces responsible
for maintaining variation. Because evolutionary theories of sexual
selection, mate choice, and aging are based on assumptions about the causes
and consequences of fitness variation, my lab is actively involved in
evaluating these theories. Members of the lab are currently studying the
genetic basis of variation in courtship behavior and lifespan, the
ecological genetics of sexual selection and mate choice, and the
evolutionary and mechanistic determinants life span. We use many different
experimental techniques including quantitative genetics, molecular kinship
analysis, gene expression analysis, and field studies. We have worked on
several different organisms including fruit flies, honey bees, and guppies.
Graduate students and
postdocs in the lab are conducting several different investigations,
including:
- genetics and genomics of natural variation
in courtship behavior in Drosophila;
- genomic and neural mechanisms of
frequency-dependent mate choice in guppies;
- an experimental study of the
causes of demographic mortality plateaus--a slowing of mortality rates
at advanced ages;
- molecular and physiological mechanisms of queen
honey bee longevity--they live ten times longer than workers!.
Research
Grants:
Behavioral and genetic mechanisms of frequency-dependent selection in guppies. National
Science Foundation, 2008-2012.
Molecular mechanisms of honeybee queen longevity. National Institutes of Health (NIA), 2003-2007.
The role of frequency dependent selection in the evolution of color pattern
polymorphism in guppies. National Science Foundation, 2002-2006.
Comparative analysis of global gene expression and male fertility in Drosophila
melanogaster. UIUC
Research Board, 2001-2002.
Biological causes of mortality plateaus. NIH (NIA) 2000-2001.
Genetic basis of sperm precedence and sex-specific fitness. CAREER Award,
National Science Foundation, 1998-2003.
Genetic variation in maturation and secondary-sex traits. National Research
Service Award, National Institutes of Health, 1995-1996.
Professional
Organizations:
American Genetic Association, Genetics Society of America,
Society for the Study of Evolution
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